In janitorial settings which require significant amounts of specialized cleaning solutions, the liquid cleaning products are purchased on a concentrated basis, and then are diluted to the proper strength at the site where they will be used. This type of general system is employed by a wide variety of users, e.g., hotels, hospitals, restaurants, etc. Several dispensing systems have been developed for mixing and diluting the concentrated cleaning products.
Many dispensing systems require several separate water lines, each water line corresponding to a different type of cleaning concentrate. With these systems, each water line includes a separate backflow preventer, dosing mechanism, and flow controls. However, dispensing and handling systems have been developed by the Applicant in which only a single water line is used. When only a single water line is employed, costs are minimized because only a single backflow preventer is needed. With the Applicant's systems, each concentrate conduit can be releasably attached to the water line for quick connection and disconnection of different cleaning concentrates. These systems are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,649; 5,255,820; 5,259,557; and 5,344,074.
Many dispensing stations are not easily portable; they are too large to move to various points of usage. The dispensing stations usually feature at least some of the following components: one or more containers for the concentrated cleaning products, a water supply line to dilute the concentrate, an intermediate-sized storage container for the diluted cleaning product, and a mechanism for dosing concentrate into the storage container. Small-sized spray bottles are filled from the storage container and then taken to the point of usage by the janitorial personnel. The intermediate-sized container is typically three to five gallons in size. This type of a jug is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,649 and 5,259,557.
However, the use of these jugs increases the storage requirements for the dispensing system, and makes the system less portable. Also, janitorial personnel sometimes prefer to have a relatively small amount of fresh diluted cleaning solution prepared immediately before use.
The present invention solves these and many other problems associated with currently available dispensing systems.